CDOT: No more daytime closures along Diagonal for work at Niwot and Jay

By Mitchell Byars, Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
07/23/2013 01:18:01 PM MDT

Brad Nupp, left, and Jesus Najera, of Interface Communications Co., work set a future utility pole on June 14, at the intersection of Jay Road and the Diagonal Highway in Boulder County.
(
Jeremy Papasso
)

Diagonal construction

For more information or to voice concerns about the construction on the Diagonal Highway, call Jalisco's informational hotline at 877-808-1257 or email sh119publicinfo@gmail.com.

The Colorado Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that there will be no more daytime closures along the Diagonal Highway related to a pair of long-delayed construction projects, saying they hope to wrap up work at the Niwot Road intersection this month while continuing work at Jay Road.

In addition to lifting the daytime closures, all through and turn lanes will be re-opened and the original speed limit of 55 mph will be restored as crews only will work on the shoulders during the daytime hours, according to CDOT.

"We realize that the public has been extremely patient with the project's impacts to this point, and we want to thank motorists for their understanding of the difficult nature of reconstructing such heavily used intersections," said Rick Wenzel, CDOT project engineer, in a statement.

There may still be nighttime closures and occasional lane closures on Jay and Niwot roads, officials added.

Jalisco International Inc. was contracted by CDOT for the work and broke ground on the $4.5 million widening project in September. Construction started at the intersection of the Diagonal and Niwot Road, with turn lanes added in each direction.

Crews opened up the second phase of the project at the Diagonal and Jay Road intersection in October. That work -- designed to upgrade medians, sidewalks and traffic signals -- aims to improve traffic flow and safety along the Diagonal.

But numerous delays have continued to push back the project's completion date.

The construction at Niwot Road -- which CDOT said is in its final stages -- was scheduled to be completed by March, while the work at Jay Road was supposed to have been completed by May.

CDOT officials said spring weather and unexpected utility pipes led to the delay.

"We never like a project to get behind like this," CDOT spokeswoman Ashley Mohr said Tuesday. "It wasn't an ideal situation by any means."

Mohr said Niwot Road is "for all intents and purposes done," and should be completed by the end of the month as crews finish things like transitioning between the old and new pavement.

CDOT hopes to have the Jay Road intersection completed by August. With workers not on the shoulders during the day, Mohr said crews will now work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. as opposed to 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in hopes of speeding up the project.

"We're glad to be moving forward and very much look forward to this project being done -- as I'm sure the public will as well," Mohr said.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.

Boulder is pretty good at producing rock bands, and by "rock," we mean the in-your-face, guitar-heavy, leather-clad variety — you know, the good kind. For a prime example, look no farther than BANDITS. Full Story